This invention relates generally to monitoring destination addresses of telecommunications, and more specifically to making an updated list of “Do Not Contact” destinations available to telemarketers.
Recent announcements indicate that the Federal Trade Commission and Congress have mandated the creation of a national “Do Not Call” list (DNC List) for telemarketers. Procedures are established for allowing telephone customers to add selected telephone numbers to the DNC List. With some exceptions, if a telemarketer calls a number on the DNC List, they can be subject to considerable fines or penalties. Individuals can put their numbers on the list through a web or phone interface, and telemarketers may have to incur extra expenses in order to download periodically updated versions of the DNC List and incorporate such a list into their marketing operations.
Telemarketers will have to make special arrangements to have their automatic calling systems modified to check the DNC List before a call is placed. Telemarketers who dial numbers manually will incur labor costs associated with having their callers consult the DNC List manually, or they will have to buy pre-screened calling lists from calling list suppliers. Since they are required to use currently updated do-not-call list information, they will have to pay to maintain accurate approved call lists, and it seems likely the telemarketers may still be liable for fines or penalties if the call list is not properly screened by the supplier.
The underlying basis for a legally mandated DNC List is also applicable to pre-selected groupings of address destinations for market targeting purposes, where the groupings are chosen based on geography, age or any other demographic categories.
The need for implementing such a screening technique is not limited to voice telemarketing messages sent to telephone customers. Other telecommunication networks for text, data, audio, video, images, and the like would benefit from a data management system that manages and implements various types of “Do-Not-Contact” listings. Moreover the message transmission media for such a screening technique includes wireless, cable, Internet, satellite, power lines, LAN, WAN, PSTN, fax, etc.